After the battle was over, they had cut in half all the buildings within a 500 feet radius.

Despite the loss of blood, gradually causing him to lose his sight, and the tortuous pain from his multiple wounds, Oscar could still chuckle. "T-That’s an interesting fighting style you g-got there. He-he. It reminds me of someone I know.”

The Girl in Black strolled toward him. The echo from her heeled boots was the only discernible sound in the area, as the roar of the two-headed dragon and the noise of the people fighting it seemed distant and mundane.

“What’s so funny, sweetheart?” The girl tilted her head, showing genuine curiosity. Without saying a word, she ordered the black bindings around Oscar’s wrists to hold him aloft, so she could watch his face. “Has losing that easily gotten in your head? Did I hurt your precious pride so much that the only thing left for you is to laugh?”

“No. It’s not about me. You mentioned something about your colleague, fighting The Golden Comet as we speak.”

“Yes. What about it?”

“I presume that this colleague of yours is also exempt from the Safe Zone’s debuffs like you, am I correct?” Oscar waited for her response, but the girl opted for silence. “I’ll take it as a yes, then. He-he. I’d like to give you a warning. You’re really underestimating her.”

The girl remained quiet until something resembling a small black dog approached her feet, wagging its tail.

“Look who came back!” she said lovingly. “Who’s a good girl, hmm? Did you find him, Bubsy?”

As the girl crouched to hold the pet’s feet, Oscar stared at it. The creature looked back, showing that most of its head consisted of one large eye.

Wait, what did she say? ‘Find him’? Find who? Is Astrid not their primary target? Don’t tell me that her colleague’s job is just to distract her?! I have to tell Tamara about this…

“Tell me, sweetie. What would be the most painful way to die for you right now?”

Don’t get distracted. Just deliver the message…

Seeing that his defeated enemy had fallen into silence, she shrugged. “Oh, well. I’ll choose for you then.”

The shadow under her feet enlarged, getting below Oscar’s body. He knew what was going to happen.

“Wait! There’s something else I need to ask you!”

“And I don’t need to comply!” the girl said, grinning and gesturing goodbye.

The shadow below Oscar bubbled as if it had turned into a pitch-black swamp, and a second later, dozens of spikes impaled his entire body.

“Okay, Bubsy, let’s go,” the girl said while the little critter disappeared inside her shadow. “We’re in the middle of a date, aren’t we?”

+ + + + +

+ + + +

+ + +

+ +

+

A girl with dirty blond hair slowly opened her eyes and immediately felt her body numb. With squinting eyes, she barely recognized the streets she traversed every day to go to work, as the sidewalks and buildings looked in complete ruin.

She was moving but could not feel her legs working. It wasn’t until she clenched her hands against someone else's clothes that she realized she was being piggybacked.

“W-What… happened?”

“Oh, great! You regained consciousness. How do you feel?”

“As if a dragon had stormed my house…”

The young man carrying her chuckled. “Well, technically, that’s what really happened.”

“W-What? Are you serious? H-How did a dragon—?” The girl stopped mid-sentence as if a sudden pain had shut her up.

The young man halted after hearing her wail and gently put her down. “Try not to move, okay? You got wounded when the building… um…” He pursed his lips and avoided her gaze as if he had been the cause of her misfortune.

“What?” The girl frowned while examining the boy’s face. There were dark marks under his eyes, giving him a restless appearance, but it did not make sense. No one in The Novus kept physical imperfections voluntarily unless they were some kind of attention seeker. “Whatever. Shit happens. Do you have a red potion?”

The guy with red chestnut hair shook his head. “No. Sorry. This is the best I could do.” His gaze pointed at the bandages covering her abdomen.

“So what now?” she asked, raising her voice. She only got a puzzled expression as an answer. “You were carrying me somewhere. What was your plan?”

“Oh, sorry. I’ve been trying to get some help for a while now, but…”

“Nothing?” She sneered. “Is the situation so dire that you haven’t stumbled across someone since you found me?” She looked around, maintaining an expression of disbelief. “I recognize this place; we’re five blocks away from my apartment.”

He pursed his lips, unable to answer until a light projected his shadow over her. “LOOK OUT!”

A nightmarish, deafening sound terrorized them for five excruciating seconds. Her heart skipped a beat as she tightly embraced the young man shielding her. When she dared to peek over his shoulder, she could see a massive wall of light disintegrating the convenience store she had used as a point of reference.

When that massive laser beam dissipated, silence reigned over that lonesome street again.

“N-No way…” she muttered. “What was that?”

“That’s the dragon’s deathly breath. That’s why I’m trying to get you out of this zone as quickly as I can.”

“You’re kidding me,” she whispered, as her lower lip trembled. “Is something that powerful roaming the city right now? What are the guilders that swore to protect this city do--?!” Her shouting was interrupted by the piercing pain from her wound.

“H-Hang in there just for a little while, okay? I promise we’ll find you a healer.” He then turned around, ready to carry her again. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

She observed his back for a moment before sighing. “What’s your name?”

“Alan Warden. Yours?”

“Nikki. Thanks for helping me, Alan, but it may take us a while until we find a healer since they may be busy dealing with the monster.”

“We’ll find someone who can give us a red potion then. Come on, we have to get out of here!”

“I have a better idea,” she began whispering as she leaned forward to touch his cheeks.

“Nikki? What are you…?”

She exhaled before casting: “Active Skill, Lifesteal.”

Overwhelming dizziness paralyzed Alan as if all the blood inside his body was being taken away. Seconds later, he lost control of his body, and half of his face hit the ground.

As he did his best to remain conscious, a pair of shoes got inside his blurry line of vision.

“What kind of joke is this?” the girl cried, annoyed. “Are you really level 5? You barely had the necessary HP to help me close this damn wound! Whatever. Thank god there are still stupid white-knight assholes like you in this shitty VR. Nice meeting you, Alan. You should be grateful that I stopped the Skill before killing you.”

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With that said, the young woman strode from there, but her rushed footsteps were shut by someone giggling in his ear. “What a shitty person that was… Are you okay with this outcome, Alan?”

Squinting, he turned his gaze toward Nikki running down the street, but saw a shadowy figure instead, getting cut in half like a piece of paper.

What the…?

He gathered his strength to stand up, ignoring a system warning telling him that his HP was at 5%, for something had appeared in front of him that demanded his full attention.

“Alan Warden…”

A disembodied voice echoed inside his head.

“Do you really want to know what happened?”

The street in ruins had been swapped for a white hallway. The floor reflected him, and the pristine walls begged not to be touched by his dirty palms.

Is this… The Santa María?

“...The truth may be ugly, you know,”

“I know…” he replied, as the immaculate walls now presented burn marks, and the floor changed to red.

“It’s a good thing that The Novus does not leave corpses behind. It’s better this way, right, Alan?”

He almost tripped after stumbling upon something. Was it a person lying down over a pool of his own blood? He could not tell and he refused to inspect it. But when he looked at the path in front of him, dozens of other human-looking figures awaited.

The corridor spread forward like an endless tunnel, and with it, hundreds of unidentifiable sacks of meat.

“Just imagine how messy the streets of Londorus would look right now if The Novus did not get rid of the bodies. It’d be quite a sight to behold… Don’t you think? So answer me this, Alan. Have you seen a bunch of bodies lying around lately? Like candy scattered across the ground after breaking a piñata, hu-hu.”

“I…”

He noticed a light at the end of the tunnel. A blinding light that tried to scare him away and threatened to go out forever, leaving him in perpetual darkness. But he needed to advance forward whatever the costs. Even though the goal may hurt him and break his soul into a thousand pieces. He owed it to the people that worked before him and to those that made this journey possible.

At least that’s what I believe, he said to himself as he forced himself to go forward.

“Stop. I wouldn’t go in that direction if I was you…”

“Shut up. Don’t try to stop me.”

“Seriously… It’ll kill you.”

“J-JUST SHUT UP! I know I’m hopeless, okay?! I just need to—”

“What a nuisance. I can’t have you getting killed just yet, you know? You still have a lot to an—”

An explosion shut the woman’s voice and brought Alan back to reality.

He looked up in the direction the voice was coming from and witnessed the black-clothed girl escaping from an entire building floor engulfed in flames. He then realized that the light coming from the illusionary tunnel was the dragon’s breath, coming at him from a distance.

Oh, for the love of—I’m so toasted!

He shut his eyes, bracing himself, hoping that getting vaporized would be quick and painless. But a couple of seconds later, he realized he could still hear and feel everything around him.

He squinted at the feminine silhouette shielding him. Her long hair flew above her nape, hitting his face, and the fragrance emanating from it contrasted with the smell of charred pavement and smoke nearby.

“Astrid?” he called aloud, making the young girl in front of him sneer loudly.

“Seriously? Do I look of blowjob-height to you?”

After the dragon’s breath dissipated and his sight readjusted to the gloomy ambiance, he glanced at the enormous piece of black metal that had served as a shield and at its owner, a known, smug redhead girl.

“Amelia Laflamme? What are you doing here?”

“Don’t misinterpret it, Ghost. I’m just passing by,” she replied, looking at him from head to toe with a disdainful expression on her face. Sighing, she pulled out something from her inventory and tossed it in his direction. “Here. It kinda bothers me to see your HP in the red. Look at you. Even my Battle Aura could kill you if I suddenly power up.”

Alan examined the glass bottle filled with red liquid.

“Thanks… but…”

“Not now, Ghost, for that person is still around,” Amelia said, looking at the sidewalk 20 feet away from them, where the black-clothed girl jumped down.

“What the actual hell, you bitch?” she cried. “Why are you interrupting our date?!”

“Date?” Amelia snickered. “Weren’t you casting Slumbermare on him just a moment ago? Is that your way of showing interest, darling?”

Slumbermare? Alan turned to Amelia, frowning. Isn’t that what that Marco jerk did to me the other day? So was this girl trying to get inside my head too?

Alan then noticed Amelia smirking at him. “W-What?”

“I didn't know you were into yanderes, Ghost.” Amelia snickered. “That explains your relationship with Astrid perfectly.”

“Please don't follow her game,” he whispered, before narrowing his eyes at the unknown girl. “And weren't you calling me Little Mouse before, as if you were some sort of horny cat? What's with the 'date' crap now?!”

“H-Horny?” the girl stuttered. “I’m not—!”

“Why did you call Astrid a yandere, Amelia?” Alan asked the redhead beside him, completely ignoring their enemy. “She’s not some sort of psycho; she’s a sweetie!”

“You have to be kidding me. She literally killed thirty of her former teammates because of you.”

“That proves nothing. And what were you saying about a blowjob again? I didn’t get that.”

“Is that what worries you right now?!” Amelia cried, blushing. “I said she’s of 'blowjob-height,' got it? Or do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Oh, come on, she's not that short! She's 5 feet, 2 inches tall,” he said with a straight face.

“Okay, that was not totally creepy… And use metric, you Imperial jerk.”

“That’s 157 cm,” the girl in front of them said, nonchalantly.

“Thank you!” Alan nodded at her. “Did you hear that, Amelia? Astrid is not short.”

“She’s below the standard, Ghost…”

“H-H-How tall are you, anyway?!”

“With or without high heels?”

“Wha—? Uh—Okay… Without?”

“Why do you ask? I don't think you'll ever see me without them.”

“Fine! How tall are you WHILE wearing heels?”

“What? Is this a fetish of yours?”

Alan sighed. “...Why are you so annoying?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I want us to be friends!”

“Reaaally? After all the things I did to you? Are you a creep AND a masochist?”

“I thought we were getting along after you helped me yesterday.”

“Hold on! What are you talking about?”

“At the Drinking Banshee, remember? When you locked me in the ladies' bathroom.”

Amelia’s face flushed immediately, turning to the girl observing them. “I-It’s not what it sounds! Dammit, Ghost! I didn't help you, okay?! It just—!” Amelia pursed her lips, turning her tone of voice softer. “...benefitted me to let you go…”

Seeing Amelia getting flustered so easily made Alan grin. “So was saving me from that dragon’s laser beam also beneficial to you? Hmm?”

“I’m warning you, Ghost! I don't like that smirk of yo—” Amelia got interrupted mid-sentence by something attempting to pierce her face. She dodged at the last second but got a slight cut on her left cheek.

“Yo! What the hell!” Alan cried.

The Girl in Black seemed to glare at them through her hood. “Sorry! Did I interrupt your little chat?”

“It was more like bantering…”

“WHATEVER! We have prolonged this mouse chase for too long, Alan Warden. So tell your meddling friend to GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, or she’ll suffer the same fate as the previous rat.”

“What rat?” Amelia asked Alan quietly. “And who’s this bitch, anyway?”

“I think she’s referring to that big guy from the guild—Oscar! Yes, that’s his name. And… Um… She’s that dragon’s summoner.”

“Okay, got it,” Amelia nodded. “But why is she targeting you? There’s nothing interesting about your whole existence—” She narrowed her eyes at him, lost in thought. “Oh…” she expressed with pouty lips.

“What? What did you realize?”

Amelia pulled him by the hand. “No time. Run!”

“NOT AGAIN!” the Girl in Black cried, ready to use the same technique she used to execute Oscar, but a sudden source of heat above her distracted her. “What the—Is that a maw?”

A huge feline engulfed in flames bit her head off before crashing against the concrete. Then, it roared victoriously, making itself be heard across the adjacent streets.

“I don’t think that’ll be enough,” Amelia muttered while running.

“Amelia, wait! Why are we escaping?! I thought you’d kick her ass!”

“Is that why you were bantering with me in front of her?! So she could get angry and target me?!”

“Maybe?”

She shut her eyes, gathering her patience. “Let’s not talk about that for now, okay? Just answer me this so both of us can be on the same page. How do you know she summoned that dragon?”

“Because she did it in front of my eyes.”

“Did you accidentally watch her do it? Is that the reason she’s targeting you? Because you’re the only witness?”

“No! She did it on purpose to prove some sort of philosophical bullshit!”

“HUH?! What are you talking about?!”

“She was saying nonsense! That our generation has turned lazy and complacent, and that she’s the embodiment of progress or some shit!”

Amelia halted to look Alan in the eye. “You were talking with her?”

“Yes. In a park near—”

“What I’m trying to ask is—” Amelia paused, shaking her head. “Was she looking for you from the start?”

Alan quickly grimaced. “What? No, NO! Of course not! I met her at this park near this… um… I don’t know the name of that bridge! Anyway, she approached me in a friendly way and…” He narrowed his eyes. “Why would you think she was looking for me? I… I’m unimportant.”

“But you were doing something of value outside The Novus… weren’t you?” she asked, looking apologetic. “Something that could risk ‘the integrity of this ship and its population’?”

That sounded as if she was quoting me…

“How do you…?”

“I may… have heard your conversation with Marco yesterday,” she admitted, half-smiling. “Tee-hee.”

Alan’s face turned bright red. “YOU WHAT?!”

A wail echoed through the street. Looking back, Alan saw a giant feline getting lifted by a pair of black tentacles impaling its body.

“There goes my Kirin,” Amelia exhaled, before exerting an explosive fire aura. “Listen to me, Ghost, I’m not entirely sure what you’re up to, but everything points to this girl knowing about it too.”

“But that’s impossible…” he whispered, looking at a huge black mass consuming Amelia’s cat summon. “Because the menace…”

Through his mind flashed the many different things the girl was saying. A sentence stood out among them.

‘Your ancestors’...

She sounded weird when she said that. But no… It can’t be. The menace I was talking about with Marco is not human…